DV Blog

Though I don’t follow baseball much, I do know enough that stats are a big part of the game. Thus this anecdote in Michael J. Mauboussin's article "The True Measures of Success" in the Harvard Business Review is pretty interesting:

Among competing management and planning priorities, it is not always easy to make time for improving systems to measure and communicate organizational performance and impact. You also need to have solid buy-in for the process from others around you, including both leadership and front-line staff.

Over the past few years, I have often heard that ‘Vancouver is the second least affordable city in the world.’ I usually use this metric to feel sorry for myself that I didn’t buy real estate right when I moved here 20 years ago.

The glossy photos of software solutions are very appealing: a person smiling and relaxed while working at a computer (and not looking like they are on the verge of throwing it against a wall); screenshots that show colourful graphics and easy to read data.

Some of the most challenging impacts to define and measure relate to the value of arts and culture. While it is quite common to see output numbers like attendance and participation rates for arts and culture-related initiatives, rarely do we see measures that relate to deeper impacts.